According to Deloitte’s 2023 Global Survey of Chief Procurement Officers, supply chain ESG risks are more top of mind than ever. The survey found that CPOs ranked ESG second in overall enterprise priorities last year, up from seventh place in 2021. Here are some of the other key takeaways from the survey:
- 40% of CPOs stated their procurement organizations don’t define or measure their own set of relevant ESG factors, even though 60% do measure suppliers on sustainability at some level.
- CPOs should always over-communicate to their Chief Sustainability Officers and board members as such, given that only 46% of CSOs require suppliers to meet specific ESG criteria.
- Only 14% of CPOs surveyed in the Americas have yet to define what diversity means to them (and their procurement organizations), but this figure is 40% for surveyed European firms. This disparity may result from regulatory differences concerning DEI and supplier diversity among across nations (e.g., how the United States defines a “diverse supplier” is different from how it is defined in Europe, and some countries do not define this concept at all).
- The big procurement focus seems to be on sustainability related to reducing emissions and waste: 62% of CPOs are targeting climate mitigation, but 72% are attacking waste reduction and material circularity that can help reduce costs and respond to market demand.
I think this last finding is interesting, if not perhaps a little counterintuitive. I’m not only surprised that waste/circularity rates above climate and human rights, but also by the 10% gap between the first and second place issues.
